Pinata breaking celebrations are quite popular in Mexico and in the Mexican communities of the Southwestern United States. Pinatas are traditionally a pot or container ornamented with colorful paper and filled with candy, nuts, confetti and/or token gifts such as small toys and the like. The pinata is suspended above a party area and at the appropriate time, and with celebration, it is broken so that the treats are scattered among the guests who in turn can keep whatever they collect. The usual method of breaking the pinata is by beating it with a club or cane; and this is done by either a blindfolded child who is the subject of the celebration or by several children in succession, each given a certain number of turns in which to break the pinata. Unfortunately, as a result of the enthusiasm of the guests gathering close to the pinata so as to obtain a large number of candies or gifts, it occasionally happens that a child is hit by a club or cane. Additionally, the traditional pinata is made of clay pottery, and large falling fragments can cause injury to a young child. Modern pinatas are often made of paper-mache, avoiding the dangers of cracked clay fragments; but such pinatas are generally more difficult to break, requiring greater swings with the resultant danger from that aspect to the children. My prior application Ser. No. 617,602, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,364, is directed to a pinata having a bottom wall formed with at least one line of weakness so that it will break-away upon successive pulls or jerks on a suspension line. My prior application Ser. No. 758,215 is directed to a pinata having a bottom wall which breaks-away upon the puncturing of a balloon. Such pinatas require the replacement of at least one component for each use. The present invention, as with my prior application Ser. No. 873,804, is directed to a pinata which is completely reusable.
In accordance with the invention, a pinata includes first and second mutually cooperating walls; means for suspending the pinata and for releasably holding the walls in assembled relation to define a substantially enclosed chamber, the suspending and holding means including a first elongated flexible member, disposed in a releasable locking arrangement for holding the walls in the assembled relation and for releasing the walls from the assembled relation; and means, including a plurality of elongated flexible members, having a like appearance externally of the chamber, for releasing the first flexible member from the locking arrangement in response to the application of a force to a part of the means. A plurality of small items may then be carried on bottom portions of the walls, within the enclosed chamber, and may be released from the chamber upon release of the walls from the assembled relation. In accordance with other more detailed aspects, the first elongated flexible member may also be employed in the suspension of the pinata.
In accordance with other features, a pinata includes the mutually cooperating walls and means for suspending the pinata and for releasably holding the walls, as stated above, along with a plurality of elongated flexible members extending externally of the chamber when the walls are in their assembled relation, having a like appearance externally of the chamber, at least one of these members for releasing the first flexible member from the locking arrangement through the application of a force to the releasing flexible member sufficient to accomplish the release.
In accordance with more detailed aspects of these features, the first flexible member is disposed in a self-locking arrangement comprising the formation of a slip-knot by this member. The suspending and holding means may further alternatively include, for example, a holding flexible member for forming a slip-knot with the first flexible member, or, on the other hand, a support element defining at least one hole for passing the first member through the support element and a release pin which cooperates with the releasing flexible member and with the first flexible member and support element. In the latter case, the release pin is connected to the releasing flexible member and releasably held to the support element by the first flexible member.